Broadband provider TalkTalk has released the results of a study into the effectiveness of in-game advertising.

The brand, supported by agency partner m/SIX, programmatic advertising partner and Xaxis, and in-game ad platform Bidstack, commissioned eye-tracking firm Lumen Research to study how ads were seen within gaming environments and how messaging for its fibre broadband service reached and resonated with gaming audiences on PCs playing popular football and racing games. 

The study found that there was an uplift of 12 percentage points in purchase intent among those players who saw the ads. 48 per cent of the study participants were able to spontaneously recall TalkTalk, rising to 58 per cent when prompted, compared to a benchmark for prompted of 33 per cent, when looking at digital display (desktop and mobile) and Facebook Infeed (mobile).

Attention generated by the in-game ads in the study equated to 29 minutes of consumer attention per thousand impressions. TalkTalk said this compares favourably to an industry average for online advertising (including desktop display, mobile display, and Facebook mobile Infeed) of 17.5 minutes per thousand impressions.

The study also found that the average dwell time was 13 per cent higher for the TalkTalk ads than the industry average of 1.6 seconds for online advertising. In addition, TalkTalk’s in-game ads were viewed by up to 96 per cent of the study participants, compared to an industry average of 67 per cent of online advertising ad impressions viewed. Finally, 84 per cent of those exposed to the ads said they felt they were suitable for the in-game environment.  

“Gaming is a large and ever-growing part of how consumers utilise their broadband services, accelerated further by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said TalkTalk Media Manager, Joe Bremend. “Having the ability to effectively reach and engage with this growing and valuable audience, in an environment where they are increasingly spending time, and share marketing messages that drive brand awareness is a game-changer. It is particularly promising to see this campaign perform so well against some of the most relied on digital advertising KPIs, which bodes well for the future of in-game campaigns.”